How important is AOA?

[Sir Jun]

Any idea on what the ratio of AOA to non-AOA residents, or on how necessary it is to be AOA in order to get an interview/acceptance?

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[Andrew_Doan]

AOA helps but is not a prerequisite to being accepted.

I don't have exact stats, but it seems that even at the most competitive programs, at least 25% of the residents were not AOA.

The important criteria for interviews and matching are, in no particular order:

1) USMLE
2) LORs
3) AOA
4) Grades in core clerkships
5) Medical school attended
6) Dean's letter

 

[hbs]

Does anyone know if senior AOA is anounced before early match applications are due or do you have to be a junior AOA to be able to put it on your application? Is there any point to getting a senior AOA if you have already turned in your application in September?

 

[Redhawk]

It may vary by school(?). My school gave out senior AOA in October. I sent it in to SFMatch and took copies to each interview, but I'm not sure how much it helped. If you get junior AOA it could definitely help with interview offers. You should still send it in for senior AOA, anyways, just in case as it definitely won't hurt you.

 

[Andrew_Doan]

http://www.alphaomegaalpha.org/AOAmain/GeneralInformation.htm

 

[Andrew_Doan]

http://www.medicine.uiowa.edu/osac/programsrecords/AOA.htm

 

[Jaded Soul]

Digging up an old thread to ask a related question...

How good is AOA membership in predicting whether one matches or not? Or in other words, has anyone heard of someone being AOA but not matching?

 

[Redhawk]

Last year, only 20% of those who matched were AOA. There are no stats available for what percentage of AOA applicants were accepted.

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=136937&highlight=match+stats

 

[medduck]

Does anyone know if senior AOA is anounced before early match applications are due or do you have to be a junior AOA to be able to put it on your application? Is there any point to getting a senior AOA if you have already turned in your application in September?

It varies by school, like Redhawk stated. At some schools, I think junior AOA members choose senior AOA at the time of their choosing. We chose senior AOA in early August so that our ENT, ophtho, neurosurg and plastics classmates could have it on their app to SFmatch. If you know anyone in junior AOA at your school, tell them to get on the ball.